Unbreakable Bonds
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Dean is kidnapped as a child. Years later Sam meets a hunter that bears the same first name as his missing brother.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters**

**Unbreakable Bonds**

_14 years earlier_

12 year old Dean Winchester was walking home from school. He was feeling really nervous. He kept feeling like he was being followed. He looked behind and saw that nothing was there. "Get a hold of yourself, Winchester. You're being paranoid," Dean told himself. He then kept moving, only this time he went a little faster.

Before Dean knew it, someone came around a corner and grabbed him. "Hey! Let me Go," Dean screamed. The man that grabbed him put his hand over his mouth to muffle his screams. A car then pulled up and the man pushed Dean inside before getting inside himself. The car then sped away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

_Present Day_

Sam Winchester walked into the apartment he shared with his girlfriend Jessica Moore. He then walked into the bedroom. He was beat. He'd just spent hours in the library getting ready for a test that he had the next day. He plopped down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was just drifting off to sleep when he felt some kind of liquid land on his face.

Sam opened his eyes and was horrified by what he saw. There on the ceiling was his girlfriend Jess. She was pinned to the ceiling the exact same way his mother had been when he was a baby.

"Jess!" Sam yelled. He jumped up and grabbed a chair to step on, so he could reach her and get her off the ceiling. Before he was able to do so, the fire started. "No! Jess hold on!" He refused to give up. He was going to save her if it was the last thing he did. He would not lose her. He'd already lost his mother and his brother and emotionally he'd lost his father as well, but he would not lose her too.

Before he could reach Jess, Sam felt someone grab at him. He quickly turned to see a blond haired man, who was dressed in dark colors trying to drag him out.

"Let me go!" Sam demanded.

"Dude, we have to get out of here," the man said.

"No, I have to save her!" Sam yelled as he tried to free himself.

The man grabbed Sam and forced him to look at him. "You can't save her! She's already gone! If you stay here, you will die too!"

Sam turned and looked at Jess sadly before he once again felt himself being dragged out of the apartment.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Dean was getting cleaned up in his hotel room. He'd brought the kid he'd saved back with him as well. Normally, he wouldn't do that. He knew better than to bring a civilian back with him, but the kid looked bad and he just couldn't bring himself to leave him alone.

"You okay, dude?" he asked.

"No, not really. This shouldn't have happened. She wasn't supposed to be apart of this," Sam said.

Dean stopped in his tracks when he said that. He now knew that the kid knew something. "What wasn't she apart of? It was just a fire."

Sam turned to him. "You don't have to lie. I know what you are."

"What am I" Dean asked innocently.

"A hunter. A supernatural hunter," he replied.

"And what makes you think that?" Asked Dean.

"You knew what had happened. You knew what would happen," Sam answered.

"You a hunter too?" he asked.

"Yeah, with my dad until a few years ago. Oh god, I gotta find him," Sam said.

"Look, dude-" Dean started.

"Sam. My name is Sam,' he corrected.

Dean took a moment to think about the irony of the guy's name before continuing. "Okay Sam. I'm Dean by the way. Look, worry about finding your old man tomorrow. Right now you should try to get some sleep."

Sam snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to happen."

"Just try, okay," said Dean.

"Yeah whatever," Sam said before laying down.

Dean continued to look at him. He really felt for the kid. He knew what it was like to lose someone you loved to evil. His mother had been killed the exact same way as Sam's girlfriend. He emphasized with him and the fact that he had the same name as his baby brother made it even worse.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Dean woke up to find Sam with his phone to his ear pacing. "Dad, it's me. Look, I need you. Please you have to call me back. Something's happened," Sam said before hanging up.

Dean couldn't help but feel sorry for Sam. He knew what it felt like to lose everything. He was just a kid when he lost everything he held dear. His mother had died when he was four and his father and brother had been taken from him when he was just twelve. He still remembered the day.

_Flashback_

_Dean found himself in a dark, locked room. He immediately started pounding on the door. "Let me out!" He screamed. "If you don't let me go, my dad's going to kill you." He went on like that for hours before he decided to sit down and wait. He knew his dad would find him. He would always save him._

_After a few more hours, Dean heard the door unlock. He got up quickly and moved to where the door was. As soon as the door opened in tried to escape, but he was grabbed by whoever had opened the door._

"_Dean, calm down," the man said._

"_Let me go. Who are you?" Dean demanded as he continued to kick and scream._

"_I'll explain as soon as you calm down," he said._

_Dean contemplated his options. He could keep trying to escape and would most likely fail or he could listen and try to figure out what to do next. In the end, Dean decided to listen. "Okay," he said as he stopped struggling._

_The man then let Dean go. "My name's Ralph," he said._

"_What do you want? Why did you kidnap me?" Dean asked._

"_I didn't. Demons kidnapped you. I saved you. I killed them all, Dean," said Ralph._

_Dean started to calm down. If this man was telling the truth then he was safe and would be able to go home soon. "You're a hunter?"_

"_Yes. I know your dad," he replied._

"_Where is he?" Dean asked._

"_I'm sorry, son. The demons got to him," Ralph said sympathetically._

_Dean's face contorted in horror. "My dad's dead?"_

"_I'm afraid so," said Ralph._

"_What about my brother?" Dean cried._

"_I'm sorry, he's gone too,"_

_Flashback_

Dean quickly shook off the memory. It was the worst day of his life. It wasn't something he wanted to think about. Instead, he decided to focus on Sam. "Was that your dad?" he asked.

"Well, his voicemail anyway," Sam answered. He then grabbed his shoes and started putting them on.

"Where are you going?" asked Dean.

"I'm going to find this thing and I'm going to kill it!" Sam said powerfully.

"Do you even know where it is?" he asked.

"No, but I'll find it?" Sam replied.

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Dean.

"The same way my dad's been doing it. By hunting down every supernatural thing and killing them. Eventually I'll find and kill what I'm looking for," he explained.

"Do you even know how to kill it?" Dean questioned.

"Nope," Sam said bluntly

"So, you're going to go after something that you don't know how to kill?" Dean asked.

"Yup, that's basically it," Sam said.

Dean couldn't really lecture the kid because he was doing the exact same thing. He wanted to hunt the thing down too. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he didn't want Sam to do it. Maybe it was because Sam reminded him so much of his brother, but he didn't want Sam to go off by himself. "Listen, I want to kill this thing too. Why don't we do it together?"

Sam looked up surprised. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Neither one of us knows how to kill this thing, but together we just might come out of this thing alive," Dean replied.

Sam hesitated. All his life his father had taught him not to trust anyone. Sure his dad had gotten help from other hunters, like Bobby before, but not like this. Dean was a stranger and he knew what his father would say if he knew that he was considering this. On the other hand, Dean had saved his life. He somehow trusted the man. It might have been because he had the same name as his brother, but he felt he could trust him. "Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

"Any word from your dad?" Dean asked Sam. They'd been on the road for about a month or so. They'd killed a wendigo, a couple of spirits, a phantom traveler, and just recently, Bloody Mary.

"No, but I didn't really expect to. This just what my dad does. It takes a lot to get him to pay attention. It only got worse after my brother disappeared," Sam said bitterly.

Sam's last statement peaked Dean's interest. "You have a brother?"

"Had. He disappeared years ago. We think it was the demon, which probably means he's dead," Sam said sadly.

Now Dean was really interested. He knew what it was like to lose a brother. It seemed he and Sam had more in common than he thought, which was definitely saying something. "Mind if I ask what happened?"

"I'm not even sure what happened. My dad doesn't talk about it much. All I really know is that one day he was there and one day he wasn't. It was real hard on my dad. It nearly killed him. It made him even more obsessed if that's even possible," he explained.

"It must have been hard on you too," Dean commented.

"Losing my brother hurt like hell. He was….well, I guess you could say he was the glue that held our family together. When he was gone, something inside my dad just broke," Sam said. It was true. His father had been destroyed by Dean's disappearance. It was so bad that Sam had begun to believe that his father loved Dean more than him.

Dean nodded. "I had a brother too," he said. He didn't know why but he felt comfortable talking to Sam about everything. He usually kept to himself, but for some reason, he felt he could talk to Sam..

"What happened?" asked Sam.

"He and my dad were killed by demons. My brother was only eight," Dean answered sadly.

"I'm sorry. What killed them?" asked Sam.

"Don't know. All I know is it's dead. The man who took me in killed it. I owe him a lot. He saved my life," he replied. Anyway, enough of this chick flick crap, okay?"

Sam laughed.

Soon Dean's cell phone started to ring. He quickly picked it up. "This is Dean," he called into the phone. "Ralph, what's up?" he asked and waited for an answer. "Okay. Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can and I'm bringing someone with me. We'll be there by tomorrow night tops. Alright, see you then," he said before hanging up.

"What's up?" asked Sam.

"That was the guy I told you about. The guy that took me in. He needs our help with something. I owe him, so we gotta go," Dean explained.

"Okay, where are we going?" asked Sam.

"Denver," he answered.

Sam nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

John sat in his hotel room after once again listening to Sam's message. John knew about the incident at Stanford. The one that had killed Sam's girlfriend. His first instinct had been to go straight to his son and comfort him, but he'd finally gotten a lead on Dean. He couldn't just ignore that. He would have a lifetime to comfort Sam, but this might be his only chance to find his oldest son.

John knew that it was probably wrong to ignore Sam's pain. He hated that he had to. He felt like he was being forced to choose one son over the other, but he had to think of the possible scenarios. Sam's pain was emotional and while it was horrible, it was possible that Dean's life could be in danger. He would have the rest of his life to help Sam, but this might be his only chance to help Dean and if it was, he had to take it.

John thought back to the time when Dean went missing. He'd been really stupid. The whole time he thought it was the demon that had taken Dean. He'd been living this life for so long that skewed his thinking. He'd spent so much time hunting demons and ghosts that he'd forgotten that there were other evils in the world and some of them were even human. He now knew that the evil that took his son was human. He didn't know who it was or why they did it, but he did know that he was going to find out and human or not, he was going to rip whoever it was apart.


	4. Chapter 4

John walked up to Bobby Singer's front door and hesitantly knocked on the door. He and Bobby hadn't spoken in years. The last time they'd seen each other, Bobby had come after him with a shotgun.

A second later, Bobby answered the door. "You got some nerve coming around here."

"Hi Bobby. Look, I know that we had that falling out awhile back, but I need your help," John said.

"With What?" asked Bobby.

"Finding Dean," John answered.

"Come in," he said and stepped aside, so that John could enter. "You know where Dean is?"

"No, but I think I know who took him," said John.

"Who? You think it was human?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. After doing a lot of thinking I realized something. Demons would have just killed Dean and showed me his body. Somebody did this to hurt me. They wanted me to suffer. Demons are soulless. They don't have feelings, but humans do." John explained.

"Who could hate you enough to steal your kid?" Bobby asked.

"After thinking for a couple of days, I could only come up with one person. Ralph Phillips," he answered.

"Who's he?" asked Bobby.

"A hunter. A met him about a three years after I started hunting. I killed his brother," John replied.

"Possessed?" asked Bobby. He knew that the only way John would kill a human was if they were possessed.

John nodded. "Ralph lost it. He was so angry. He threatened me. Bastard took my son to get back at me," he said angrily. "I should've seen this years ago and if I hadn't been so blinded by this life I would have."

"What do you need from me, John?" he asked.

"I know where Ralph is . He's in Denver. I need you to come with me. I need you there to stop me from killing him," John explained.

"No can do, Johnny. I can help you kill him if you want, but I can't stop you. I don't want to," Bobby said. Dean was like a son to him. We would rip this bastard apart for what he did to the boy.

John smiled. "Just until we make him tell us where Dean is."

"That I can do," he said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, Sam and Dean made it to Denver. Dean opened the door to Ralph's small apartment. "Ralph. Ralph you here!" he called.

A man with light brown hair suddenly came out of the other room. "Hey Dean," he said as he shook his hand. "This must be your friend."

"Yeah, this is Sam. Sam this is Ralph," Dean introduced.

"Hi," Sam said.

"Nice to meet you, Sam," Ralph said.

"So, what are we looking at?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure. I was hoping you boys could help me with that. You know I suck at research, Dean." Ralph answered.

"Yeah, me too, but Sammy here is pretty good," Dean answered. He then realized what he'd called Sam. He hadn't meant to say that. That nickname was meant for someone else. He shouldn't call anyone else that.

Sam was also upset by what Dean had called him. He didn't like it. Only two people were allowed to call him that. One was his father and one was dead. "It's Sam!" he said sharply.

"Yeah, sorry about that, man," Dean said. "Anyway, we'll take care of the research."

"Great. I think it's a spirit of some sort. It killed three people so far. It's in an abandoned house that is considered to be haunted. I'm heading out now to talk to some of the locals," Ralph explained.

,

"Okay, Sam an I will do the research part," Dean said.

"You mean _I'll_ handle the research," Sam said as he sent Dean a fake glare.

Dean smirked. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, I'll leave you guys to it," Ralph said and headed towards the door.

After Ralph left, Dean went over to the kitchen table, which was completely covered with papers and books. He then noticed Ralph's journal and decided to look through it. If he was lucky, Ralph had picked something up about the demon.

Dean flipped through the journal and came across something shocking. His father's name was in the book, but not as someone that Ralph would have worked with. It was listed in the section with the things Ralph hunted. His father's name was listed as well as his weaknesses, which just happened to be him and his brother. Ralph had hunted his father.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean stood there in shock for a minute. The man that had raised him. The guy he'd looked up to as a father had been hunting his real father. Dean was now sure that everything that Ralph told him was a lie. Demons hadn't killed his family. Ralph had. He was positive about that fact. Dean knew his father. John Winchester was no pushover. If a demon had attacked him, he would have wasted it. He could kill anything. But he wouldn't have even considered a human. After all, why would a human want to kill his father.

Dean started to see red. All he could think about was Sammy. His eight year old brother had been murdered by this evil bastard. What kind of sick person killed a little boy? Dean wanted to scream. He wanted to kill something. No. he wanted someone. He wanted to kill Ralph. The same way Ralph had killed his brother and his father, and he would. Ralph would die for what he did.

Sam looked over at Dean. He could see that something wasn't right. "Dean, are you okay," he asked. Dean didn't get a chance to answer because his Sam's phone went off. "Hello," Sam said into the phone.

"_Sam, it's me," _Came a voice.

"Dad?" Sam asked in surprise.

"_Yeah, it's me," _John confirmed.

"Where are you?" asked Sam.

"_I'm in Denver," _John answered. He and Bobby had made it to Denver that day.

"So am I," Sam said. He was surprised that he and his father were in the same place. They must have been on the same hunt. "Are you here about the haunting?"

"What haunting?" John asked.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no. What are you doing here?" asked Sam.

"_What hotel are you at, Sammy?" _John asked. He didn't' want to tell Sam about Dean over the phone if he didn't' have to.

"I'm not at a hotel right now. Where are you? I'll come there," Sam suggested.

"_I'm at the greenwood hotel. Room 213," _John answered.

"Okay, I remember passing that on the way in. I'll be there in twenty," Sam said before hanging up. He then turned to Dean. "Hey, my dad is in town. I have to go meet him."

Dean nodded without even looking up. That suited him just fine. He may not have known Sam for very long, but he knew him enough to know that he wouldn't be okay with what Dean was about to do.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

About twenty minutes later, Sam made it to his father's hotel room. He walked in and noticed Bobby sitting on the couch. "Hey Bobby," he greeted before turning to his father. "What's going on?"

"I think I may have found your brother," John answered.

Sam's eyes went wide. He was used to his father saying that he might have a lead, but never once had he said that he'd seen him. "Where is he?"

"Well, I'm exactly sure he himself is, but I do no where the guy who took him is," John clarified.

"It was a person," he asked in surprise.

"Yeah," John answered.

"Who would do that?" Sam wondered.

"Someone that hates me. A hunter. His name is Ralph Phillips. He…."

Sam blocked out the rest of what his father was saying. He just kept going over the last month over and over in his head. Dean. Dean, who had the same first name as his big brother. Dean who'd saved his live. Dean who had a father and a brother that he'd lost. Dean who had a father figure named Ralph.

Sam couldn't believe his own stupidity. It had all been staring him right in the face. He couldn't' believe it. For the last month he'd been traveling with his brother and he never even knew it.

"Sam, what's wrong?" asked John. He'd been trying and failing to get his son's attention for the last five minutes.

Sam looked up. "I know where Dean is. I've seen him."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Dean was putting bullets in his revolver when Ralph came back to the apartment. He was very calm. Deadly calm.

"Hey, I didn't get much. What about you? Anything on the ghost?" Ralph asked.

Dean ignored him.

"Where is your friend? Did you guys get a lead?" Ralph asked.

Dean didn't say a word. He simply looked at Ralph with pure hatred in his eyes and he raised his gun at the man's head.


	6. Chapter 6

"Dean, what the hell are you doing?" Ralph demanded.

"What I do best. I'm riding the world of one more evil sadistic bastard," Dean answered.

"Dean, I don't know what is going on here, but-"

"Shut up!" Dean yelled. "I'm going to kill you. But before I do I need you to answer something for me. All I want to really know is why? Even if you hated my father for some reason, why did you have to kill my brother? He was a kid. He was just a little boy. What kind sick and depraved person murders an eight year old boy?" he asked. He needed to know. He was going to kill Ralph, but he needed answers first. It wouldn't bring his family back, but at least he would know.

"Look, I don't know what you think you know, but-" Ralph started.

"I know that you lied to. I know that you killed my father and my brother, and I know you're going to die for it. What I don't know is why?"

Ralph decided to give up the pretense of being ignorant. He knew Dean well enough to know that no matter what he said or did, he was going to kill him. He might as well go out hurting John Winchester's son in the worst way possible. "Your right, Dean. I did kill them, and I enjoyed it."

Dean had to work really hard to control his emotions. He couldn't kill Ralph until he had answers. "Why?"

"For revenge," he answered with a smirk. "Your father killed my brother."

"So you decided to kill mine!" Dean screamed.

"Your brother screamed. Did you no that, Dean?" Ralph asked with an evil smile on his face. He was lying and he was definitely signing his death certificate, but he was dead no matter what he said, so it didn't really matter. Even if he told Dean the truth he was dead. Dean would kill just on principal if he told him that he'd kidnapped him.

"Shut up!" Dean yelled. This wasn't what he wanted. He did not want hear how his brother suffered. "I'm going to kill you. Right here and right now," he said got ready to shoot.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, John, Bobby, and Sam had just arrived. "Okay, let's go," John said and started out of the car.

"Dad wait!" Sam said. "Dean thinks you're dead. If he sees your face, he might think that you're a demon or something and try to kill you."

"He's right, John," Bobby piped up.

"Wait, you're telling me I can't see my son?" John asked angrily.

"I know you want to see your boy, John, and you will, but let us explain first. Just wait outside for a little while," Bobby said.

John nodded. He didn't like it, but he knew Bobby and Sam were right. One wrong move and things could get worse.

Sam led the way into Ralph's apartment. What he saw when he was inside made his eyes widen. Dean was standing there aiming a gun at Ralph's head and he was about to shoot. "No! Dean, put the gun down!"

Dean turned and saw Sam standing in the doorway. "Get out of here, Sam."

"I can't do that. I don't want to do this, Dean," Sam stated. He didn't really have a problem with Ralph dying, but he didn't want Dean to be the one to do it.

"I think I do," Dean said, staring right at Ralph. "He killed my brother, Sam. My eight year old brother."

"No, he didn't," Bobby piped up.

Dean turned to the doorway once more. "Bobby?"

"It is damn good to see you, boy," Bobby said with a smile on his face. "But you gotta put that gun down."

"No. He deserves to die," Dean said.

"Ain't no one in this room gonna argue that fact, but not by you. Not by your hand," he said.

"He killed my brother! My father!" Dean screamed.

"No, he didn't," Bobby informed him.

"Dean, did I ever tell you about my brother? What he was like?" Sam asked. "He was the best. When I was about six or seven, there was this older kid at our school. He liked to Bully me. His name James. My brother took him pulled him into the bathroom stall and-"

"Gave him a swirly," Dean finished. "Sammy?" Dean choked out. He didn't know how, but he now knew that the kid he'd saved in California, the one that he'd been traveling with for over a month was his brother. His Sammy.

"Yes," Sam said as took a step towards his brother.

Dean dropped the gun and ran to his brother. He then put his arms around the younger man. Bobby then came closer and put a hand on Dean's shoulders.

While the other three men were busy, Ralph decided to get out of there. He knew that if Sam Winchester was here that John couldn't be far behind and there was no way that John would let him live.

Just before Ralph made it to the door, he found himself being forcefully pushed to the ground. He looked up and saw an enraged John Winchester staring at him.

"Where do you think you're going you sick, twisted sonofabitch?" John growled.

"Dad?" Dean choked out as he, Sam, and Bobby noticed him. Dean was shocked. This had been one hell of a day. Up until today, he'd thought his family was dead and now here they all were alive and well.

John took a minute to smile at his son before turning back to Ralph. His first instinct was go over to his boys, but he knew he would have the rest of his life that. He needed to end this first.

John carefully took off his jacket and tossed it aside before walking up to Ralph. He then kicked the man in the stomach as hard as he could, which was pretty hard.

Ralph screamed out in pain. He knew he was a dead man. John was going to kill him. There was no doubt about that.

"Get up!" John demanded.

Ralph stayed rooted on the ground.

John growled and started pulling the man up. "I said get up, you sick bastard!" Once Ralph was standing John grabbed his arm and started punching him in the stomach. When Ralph fell back to the ground, John pulled him up and dragged him across the room, where he slammed his head into the kitchen table.

John let Ralph fall to the ground, still semi conscious. John then went over to the floor where Dean's gun lay and picked it up. He walked back over to Ralph and pointed the gun at him. "Look at me!"

Ralph looked up at John with as much hate as he could muster.

"I've killed a lot of things in my life, but I never hated any them. I killed things because if I didn't they would kill others. It was a job. I never felt anything for them, but you? You I hate." he said.

Ralph didn't say a word. He just continued to look at John with complete hatred and not one once of remorse.

"I killed your brother because he was possessed. It was the demon I wanted dead. Before you die, I want you to know that I know you're not possessed. It's you I want dead. It's you I'm killing," John told. He then looked right at him and pulled the trigger without regret.


	7. Chapter 7

Several hours later, everyone had made it back to Bobby's. No one had spoken a word the entire way. They were all still reeling from everything that had happened. No one really knew what to say.

Dean sat in Bobby's kitchen thinking about everything. This was all still so unreal. That morning he'd thought his family was long dead, but here they were alive and well and in the same house as him.

"You okay, Dean?" Bobby asked as he took a seat across from him.

"This has been one long day, Bobby," Dean replied.

"He had to do it," Bobby told him.

Dean didn't need any elaboration on what Bobby was talking about. He knew that Bobby was talking about his father killing Ralph. He had to admit that his father killing Ralph sent him reeling. Not because Ralph didn't deserve it, but because he wasn't expecting it. He didn't expect anything that happened to happen. It felt like he was in some sort of dream and that when he woke up his father and brother would be dead and Ralph would be alive.

"I trusted him, Bobby. I even cared about him," Dean admitted. That was probably the worst part. He'd grown up with Ralph. He loved the man he thought he was. He didn't know how to just turn that off.

"I know. That's why we couldn't let you kill him," Bobby explained. "He was going to die no matter what. Either by my hand or your dad's, but you'd been the one to do it, the guilt would have eaten away at you."

Dean nodded. "I would have done it too. If you and Sam hadn't walked in when you did, I was going to kill him. How could I not? He'd just told me he'd killed Sam. All I could picture is Sammy. My little brother dead on floor. Shot or stabbed by Ralph."

"And you say red. Just like your dad did," he said.

"I don't blame him for offing him, Bobby. How can I? I was about to do the exact same thing. It does change things though. Nothing is ever going to be the same as it once was. Not just because of Ralph's death, but because of the rest too," Dean said sadly.

Xxxxxxxxxx

John sat on the couch in Bobby's living room. He was thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours. He didn't regret killing Ralph. Ralph had destroyed his family. He'd messed with the lives of both his son's. He got what he deserved and John did not regret being the one to give it to him. What he regretted is that he'd done it in front of Sam.

Sam was a good kid with high morals. He could never condone murder. John never wanted his son to see him that way. He knew that this was going to change his relationship with Sam forever.

"Dad?" Sam called.

John looked up and saw Sam looking up at him. "Hey kiddo. Sit down," he said patting a space on the couch next to him.

Sam sat down next to his father. Things were awkward for a few minutes. Sam didn't really know what to say. It wasn't every day that you got your missing brother back and you watched your father kill a man.

"Sam, I wish I could tell you that I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm not. I'm not sorry for wasting that bastard," John said honestly.

"Neither am I," Sam admitted.

John looked up in surprise. Usually this would be where Sam would lecture about Ralph being human and about what John had just did being murder.

"I'm not sorry you killed him either and that scares me. I wanted him dead. In that moment, when we were in that apartment, all I saw was thing that needed to be taken down. I wanted him dead too and if you hadn't killed him I think I would have.," he told his father.

"Look, maybe we should just forget about Ralph and just move on," John suggested.

"How? This guy has been in our lives for years, even if we didn't know it. He has shaped who we are today," Sam responded.

John looked at his son and immediately felt guilty. Something had broken inside of him when Dean was kidnapped. His whole life had become about avenging Dean and Mary, and that left Sam alone. He could only imagine how Sam must of felt. "I'm sorry, Sam.

"For what?" asked a confused Sam.

When Dean went missing, I fell apart. I was a shell of the person I once was. I could barely function. My sole reason for getting up in the morning was to find the scum that took him from us. And because of that, you suffered needlessly. You got the short end of the stick," he explained.

Sam looked down. He'd been waiting a long time to hear those words. For his father to finally realize his mistake. "I know that you missed Dean. I missed him too, but I was your son too. It was like you forgot that."

"Sam, are under the impression that I loved Dean more than you?" John asked. Neither man noticed as Dean walked into the doorway.

"I know you did. It was obvious, even before Dean went missing. He was like you, hell, he still is. I was different. I never wanted to hunt. I wanted to go to school. When Dean disappeared it just got worse. Except for hunting, you pretty much ignored me. You didn't even put up a fight when I wanted to go away to school." Sam said angrily.

"Do you know why?" John asked.

"Because I was in the way," he said.

"No. it was because I'd already lost one son. I had no desire to lose another. I figured that at school you would be safe. I was wrong," John said as he looked down in shame. "But I loved you. Please, don't even question that. I loved you every bit as much as I ever loved Dean. I don't have a favorite son. I am so sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise." John said, near tears.

Sam started crying and leaned into his father's arms.

Dean watched his father and brother embrace. He felt a tear run down his face. He was starting to understand just what his father and brother went through when he disappeared. Sam had told him some when they were on the run, but he never really understood it until now. In that moment, he wished that Ralph was still alive just he could kill him again.


	8. Chapter 8

Dean walked into the kitchen, where he found Sam sitting at the table. He went over and opened the fridge. "Well, we're a couple of idiots,"

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean grabbed a beet and joined his brother at the table. "We've been driving around for about a month. We both had the same kind of life. Mother's killed by the demon. Missing brother's. It should have been our first clue."

Sam had to admit that Dean was right. He should have known as soon as Dean told him about his brother, especially given that his first name was the same as his brother. "Yeah, I guess we were pretty stupid. You know, if either one of us had asked the other what our brothers' names were, we'd of figured it out for ourselves."

"Like I said, idiots," Dean said before taking a sip of his beet. "So, I heard what you said to Dad. About what happened when I 'disappeared'. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked.

"Well, I'm the reason you felt that way," Dean said.

Sam was about to argue when he heard a voice from behind say, "No, you're not."

They both turned to see John in the doorway.

John went and sat at the table with his sons. "You're not the reason Sam felt unloved. That's on me."

"Yeah, but it was because of what happened to me," Dean said. He hated what his brother had to go through because he wasn't there.

"That doesn't make it your fault. I'm responsible for how Sam grew up. Ralph is responsible for how you grew up. None of this is on you boys," John said firmly.

"But I could have stopped it," he argued.

"How do you figure?" Sam asked. He couldn't believe that his brother was actually blaming himself for getting kidnapped.

"I should have done something. I should have fought harder when I was taken," Dean replied.

John looked at him pointedly. "You were going to fight off grown men? You couldn't have done a thing. You were a child. No matter how much I tried to treat you like a man. It was my job to protect you and I failed."

"Dad, it's not your fault either," Sam told him. "You couldn't be with us twenty-four/seven. You couldn't have stopped it.

"It wouldn't have happened if not for me, Sam. Ralph wanted to hurt me," John reminded.

"Why can't this just be Ralph's fault? He's the bastard responsible for all this. Blaming yourselves is just giving this guy more power over us. He's dead. Let him take all the blame die with him," Sam told them. He needed them both to understand that they weren't responsible for this. The sooner they did, the sooner they could all heal.

John smiled at his youngest son. "You always were the most sensible one. I don't know What's going to happen next, but I do now that we will get through it together. We're going to deal with this and everything else that comes our way as a family," he said. He then held one of his hands out for Sam, who promptly took it, He held the other one out for Dean.

Dean looked at his father's hand for a minute before grasping it tightly. He then grabbed Sam's hand with his other one. His father was right. They needed each other, now more than ever. They were stronger as a family. There was nothing they couldn't do as long as they were together.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean sat on Bobby's porch with a beer in his hands. It had been two months since he'd been reunited with his family. Everything was going pretty well despite the fact that they'd been apart for so long. Dean couldn't seem to get Ralph out of his head though. He couldn't get over the fact that the man had tricked him so easily. Even at twelve, he'd considered himself to be pretty smart. How had he missed the hate that Ralph had for his father?

Dean turned around as his father came out. "Hey."

"Hey, son," John said before sitting down next to his son. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Dean said unconvincingly.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" John asked. He could always tell when his son's mind was on Ralph.

"I can't seem to stop."

"What exactly are you thinking about," John asked.

"How I could've been so stupid," he said.

"What are you talking about? You're one of the sharpest guys I've ever met," John said.

"Well, apparently not sharp enough to know that he was lying to me," Dean said as he took a sip of his beer.

"Oh, come on, Dean, you were a kid," John said.

"_Your_ kid, there's a difference," Dean said. He should've known better than to trust Ralph. He'd been taught better than that. "You taught me survival skills. I should've known better.

"I taught you to hold your own against ghosts, werewolves, and everything else that goes bump in the night. I didn't teach you about what to do when some psychotic human targets you. That was my mistake," John said regretfully. He thought that teaching his boys about the supernatural would benefit them, but maybe it had been a hindrance instead. Yes, they'd learned to defend themselves from the supernatural, but it seemed that it left them vulnerable to human threats. None of them had ever considered the possibility of a human coming after them.

"Maybe."

"Look it might seem stupid now, but back then you were a child. You had no reason to doubt what that bastard told you," John said.

"I trusted him. I trusted him, and he was just using me the whole time," Dean said angrily.

John looked at his son. He could tell that this really hurt him, and not just because he thought they were dead. He felt betrayed by Ralph. "You cared about him."

"Yeah," he admitted. He hated it, but he did care about Ralph. He couldn't deny that fact. "But now I hate him. From the moment I saw his diary with your name in it, I hated him. I thought he'd killed you and Sam. And I was going to kill him for that. If Sam and Bobby hadn't come in when they did, I would've killed him."

"And then he would've gotten exactly what he wanted. He would have destroyed us all. You wouldn't have been able to forgive yourself for killing a human," John said.

"And you can?" he asked.

"I've had blood on myself before. It's nothing new," John said. He'd had to kill a lot of men in battle. One more wouldn't make much difference.

"I just wish I could get him out of my head. He's always there. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, he's always there," Dean said.

John sighed. "I think he's always going to be there unfortunately. We can't change what happened. All we can do is move on. That's the best revenge. We move on with our lives and get to know each other again."

Dean smiled. That actually sounded pretty good to him. He missed being with his family, he really did, and he really didn't want to think about the past anymore. "Yeah, that sounds good. And I think I have the perfect idea of how to start."

John was confused at first, but then he got it. "Do I hear a family hunting trip coming?"

Dean grinned and nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You sure this is a good idea, John?" Bobby asked as John packed his bags. John was planning a hunting trip. Bobby wasn't sure that was such a good idea. It hadn't been that long since they'd gotten Dean back.

"Bobby, some people heal by spending time on a shrink's couch or sitting around in their housed talking about their feelings. Not us. We heal by doing what we do best. And that's hunting. Dean wants this and he's going to get it," John said as he brought his bags out to the truck.

"You don't seriously think you're going to be playing that crap in my car, do you?" Dean asked.

"Well, it's better than the crap you listen to," Sam argued.

John and Bobby watched them bicker. "Maybe you're right, John. Maybe this is what you all need."

John just smiled and watched his sons argue. It actually felt like it used to when they were kids He knew it couldn't truly be the way it used to and that they'd probably have a bumpy road ahead of them, but for the first time in a long time, John felt like everything would be okay.

THE END

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay and the bad ending that this probably is, but I lost my muse for this story and rather than leave it for another year, I decided to end it. If my muse comes back, I may rewrite or do a sequel. Anyway thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed.**


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